De La Hoya: Canelo is on his way to becoming great

Canelo arrives (Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) Without a knockdown and some very generous scoring for his last fight, WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KO’s) would have ended up losing his last fight to Austin Trout last April in San Antonio, Texas in their open scoring fight. As it was, Canelo won a fight that looked to be more of a draw than a victory in the minds of a lot boxing fans.

Don’t tell that to Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya, because he feels Canelo is on his way to achieving greatness in his career.

De La Hoya said to the press today “With the help of the people surrounding him, Canelo is on his way to becoming great.”

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Roach to train Povetkin for Wladimir fight

roach45 Trainer Freddie Roach will be taking over the reins to train WBA “regular” heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin (26-0, 18 KO’s) for his October 5th fight against IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (60-3, 51 KO’s), according to Steve Kim.

Klitschko and Povetkin will be fighting in the 33-year-old Povetkin’s home country of Russia in Moscow at the Olimpiyskiy. Whether that’ll be any kind of an advantage for Povetkin remains to be seen. Having Roach as his trainer could help Povetkin, because Roach knows about many of Wladimir’s weaknesses in having watched him fight many times in the past.

Povetkin will likely be a huge underdog in this fight no matter who trains him. If nothing else, Roach should be able to give Povetkin enough training advice so that he’ll be competitive.

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Mayweather and Canelo Invade Houston, TX!

The unprecedented Mayweather-Canelo Press Tour continued on 07/01/2013 with another pit stop in Texas’ largest city: Houston, TX. As early as 8:00 AM in the first July morning of the year, fans began to flock to Houston’s Minute Maid Park Union Station. Although not as big as Mexico City’s mind-boggling turnout of 30,000+ fans, fellow Houstonians were ready to give the two boxing superstars a big Texas-sized welcome!

They say everything is bigger in Texas. This event was no exception.

Minute Maid Park’s Union Station was filled to capacity that left plenty of fans out in the heat as the festivities commenced. That did not discourage hardcore fans from sticking around. Once inside, the roaring fans let their voices heard. The red carpet was rolled out and the fans were restless with excitement. Was this a Mayweather or Canelo crowd?

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Wladimir Klitschko vs. Alexander Povetkin set for October 5, in Moscow

IBF/IBO Heavyweight Champion, WBO/WBA Heavyweight Super Champion and „The Ring Magazine“ World Heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitschko will meet with WBA “regular” Heavyweight Champion Alexander Povetkin at the SC Olimpiyskiy arena in Moscow (Russia) on October 5.

After extended negotiations an agreement for one of the most eagerly awaited world boxing bouts between two Olympic and reigning heavyweight champions has finally been reached.

For 37-year-old Wladimir Klitschko it is the second appearance in the boxing ring in 2013. In his last fight in May he defeated Francesco Pianeta by TKO 6. The professional record of the 1996 Olympic Gold medalist is 60 wins (52 KOs) with only 3 losses. It will be Klitschko’s 24rd World Championship fight.

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Carl Froch vs. George Groves possible for late 2013

On Monday, the International Boxing Federation ordered IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch (31-2, 22 KO’s) to start negotiations to defend his IBF title against mandatory challenger George Groves (19-0, 15 KO’s). The IBF gave a firm deadline by July 12th for Froch and Groves to come to an agreement for the fight unless he wants to lose his title by having it stripped from him.

Froch’s promoter Eddie Hearn appears to be open to the idea of Froch facing Groves this year. After all, Hearn promotes both fighters so it’s an easy fight to make, and it’s one that he’s very interested in putting together. It could be the passing of the baton between the 35-year-old Froch and the 25-year-old Groves.

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Mayweather vs. Canelo” Media Tour — It’s A Texas Two-Step

(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS (July 1, 2013) – Fans remained the biggest winners as “THE ONE: MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO” press tour continued Monday with two stops in Texas.

In Houston, a couple hundred fans began lining up at 3:00 a.m. for a press conference that started at 1:00 p.m. By the time the press conference officially commenced at Union Station At Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros, an overflow crowd of over 1,000 fans had filled the stadium’s grand lobby to beyond capacity.

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De La Hoya: Mayweather’s showing insecurity with catch-weight for Canelo fight

(Photo credit: Alma Montiel) Oscar De La Hoya doesn’t like the idea of Floyd Mayweather Jr. facing Golden Boy Promotions’ fighter WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez at a catch-weight of 152 pounds instead of at the full weight for the junior middleweight division at 154. De La Hoya thinks Mayweather has some worry about the fight because otherwise he’d have agreed to fight the 22-year-old Canelo at the full weight.

De La Hoya said to the Boxingchannel, “I think it’s a little bit of that insecurity factor coming into play. If you fight someone, you don’t need to shave off a couple of pounds because you feel they’re going to come in weak or because it’s going to be an advantage. We have weight classes for that reason. It’s [the catch-weight] going to help Canelo’s speed and help him be a faster fighter.”

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Can Sergio Martinez handle Golovkin’s power?

This question has been asked dozens upon dozens of times after Golovkin’s performance against Macklin this pasty Saturday night.

As a matter of fact, the potential of a Martinez vs. Golovkin fight has been circulating for some time now, elevating interest in that fight to as the discussions boiled. Boxing fans know what they want, and this was the fight that they believed would not only test Golovkin, but also Martinez.

Sergio is a true champion, and has proven to the boxing world to be an elite boxer. His technique and movement in the ring is impressive to observe, and despite the fact that he had a few lackluster performances, I don’t believe that he is past his prime just yet. One thing that Martinez can do real well is pick his shots and angles, making his style, if he fights on the outside, a hard one to adapt to.

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Mayweather – Canelo press tour draws 30,000 fans in Mexico City

(Photo credit: Alma Montiel) MEXICO CITY (July 1, 2013) – “THE ONE: Mayweather vs. Canelo” press tour continued on a beautiful summer Sunday in Mexico’s capital city where local police estimated that 32,000 excitable fans turned out at Monumento de los Niños Heroes to greet pound-for-pound boxing king Floyd Mayweather and national hero Canelo Alvarez.

Mexican television network Televisa covered the proceedings, which, like the previous six stops on this unprecedented press tour, was part press conference and part fan rally.

A complete replay of Televisa’s presentation is available for viewing at http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/35179179

Quotes from Mayweather and Canelo on Sunday in Mexico City:

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Golovkin impressive in destroying Macklin

Almost 48 hours ago the inevitable happened, as widely predicted Gennady Golovkin stopped Matthew Macklin within the distance. To just state that fact alone though does not do the performance justice. Many questioned whether Golovkin’s ‘power’ and recent run of stoppages was down to mediocre opponent, handpicked to increase his marketability.

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